slingin hash

Have you ever dreamed of jettisoning your life as you know it and running away to the west, north, Canada, desert, -you pick and insert here- and working as a waitress in a diner in the middle of absolutely no place? Ala "Alice" in Mel's Diner of the infamous television show of the 70's or 80's. I have no clear memory of the timespan of that program.

It's nothing to do with my life now. I am very content. I've had this little fantasy for years. Actually if we're honest we all have it in some form. Some people dream of being movie stars or singers or artists when they're sitting in a cubicle making cold calls for life insurance.

And my family is allowed to accompany me on this fantasy new life . I never liked waitressing in big fancy restaurants. I have always preferred working in little small town places. ( keep in mind here, I said "working", I have no aversion to eating in fancy restaurants)

Whenever we eat out at a little greasy spoon I think quietly to myself, "hmmm, I wouldn't mind working here."

I picture a long counter fronted with spinning stools and on it are glass topped stands filled with donuts. There is always a small bank of green milkshake makers on the work counter behind it. Coffee makers are constantly brewing fresh java and bags of chips are clipped to a stand for easy grabbing to throw on a plate. The special of the day is a tuna melt and the soup du jour is chicken noodle. The deep fryer is working overtime with extra crispy sweet potato fries and in a nod toward modernism buffalo burgers are served. The windows have cafe curtains hung at the half window and the name of the establishment is printed in white in an arch across the top half of the window. I prefer mostly booth seating with a few tables thrown in. There is definately a ficus plant or two. But they're plastic.

And somehere is a jukebox in which music hasn't been changed since 1981.


There's a warmth to people in these places that I find missing in the finer establishments. A comraderie among blue-collar workers that white-collar workers eschew (in my opinion) in favor of a "higher decorum".

So, yep...that's my fantasy.....

What about you? Any secret fantasies about what you'd do for a living if you didn't do what you are now?